God promises to sustain us and satisfy us so that we no longer desire the wickedness of our old lives and instead crave the goodness of the fruit that God can produce in our life.
During a recent run on my treadmill, I was struck by the lyrics of the song by Jeremy Camp called “Keep Me In The Moment.” Usually, you would hear keep me in the moment when referring to a Superstar’s sports debut or an author’s release of a long-awaited book but instead Jeremy Camp sings that he wants God to keep him in the moments that God has for him.
This is not an easy thing to do in our world full of pleasures, instant happiness and constant connectedness. The world promises satisfaction and joy and unending pleasure but instead, it returns void and hopeless with constant distractions from the truth. The lyric line “show me what matters; throw away what I’m chasing after; cause I don’t want to miss what you have for me” is so powerful and so vulnerable. This is a desperate call for change and surrender whatever the cost.
In Psalm chapter 1, the psalmist really begins the book with a solid contrast between the wicked and the righteous. In verse 1, the psalmist states that there is a blessing in choosing not to walk the easy path of the world, lost in their pursuit of pleasure. The way of the wicked is in contrast to the righteous that in verse 2 are to find delight in the law of the LORD. So as easy as it is to read these words on the page, changing our ways takes a decision on our part. We have to choose the gospel.
God sent his son as a gift for the undeserving and the wicked of the world, guess what, that is all of us! So good news! We have a savior that has done the hard work and has taken our punishment and wants us to accept his gift. We have to make the choice to walk with him in righteousness and obedience. In verse 2, it states that we are to delight in the law of the LORD. Delight is not a word we use regularly anymore but the definition means great pleasure. Pleasure is a word that permeates our culture. And not just at our local Chick-fil-a.
So how do we change our understanding of pleasure and pursue God with our lives? The lyrics mid-way through the song “Keep Me In The Moment” state “I’ve been thinking about making a change and let you change me; so with all my heart this is my prayer” perfectly states the next step. We have to choose to be a follower of Christ and let God’s Spirit change us from the inside out. In this choice, we are choosing to leave the pleasures of the world behind and receive the beautiful relationship with God.
There can be a struggle when you hear something and desire to pursue change but don’t know what practical steps to take next. The second part of Psalm 1:2 so gracefully describes the next practical step stating that “on his law he meditates day and night.” This is a picture of devotion and sacrifice at any cost. Reading and understanding the Bible can be intimidating but the Holy Spirit promises to reveal his truth if we just ask.
In verse 3, the psalmist writes about a strong tree rooted near a stream being daily fed and therefore producing fruit in season. This is exactly what God desires for us when we choose to live a righteous life in relationship with Him. God promises to sustain us and satisfy us so that we no longer desire the wickedness of our old lives and instead crave the goodness of the fruit that God can produce in our life.
The fruit that God promises comes through connections found in a life of prayer and study of the Bible. The Bible is the water source that will keep us rooted deep. My prayer for us is that when we walk out this life of righteousness we will pray for ourselves God KEEP ME IN THE MOMENT and not get distracted by this world so that we don’t miss the pleasures he has in store for us!
